Three of M&O’s initiatives have been selected by the Presidential Task Force on Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children as compelling examples of policy actions which be highlighted during national Children’s Health Month in October 2015. Our work will be featured on the Task Force website and highlighted at an event during Children’s Health Month, and disseminated across the community of practice to raise awareness, share what’s working, and encourage others to adopt similar policies.
Our initiatives included:
Advocacy Training for Pediatricians: To elevate the voices of medical professionals on the need to protect children’s health from air pollution and climate change we partnered with Morehouse School of Medicine and provided a 3-hour advocacy training for their pediatric residents. M&O’s training covered air quality, climate change and children’s health, and skill-building in policy, media outreach, and serving as a spokesperson. We recruited all the doctors who attended and we’ve been invited back to provide this training annually.
Enlightenment Luncheon:
To help build support for public policy that limits carbon pollution, we hosted an event on climate change and children’s health targeting “influencers,” who were mostly moms. Our speakers included two medical doctors, one climatologist, and EPA’s Region IV Administrator. We also recruited Mikayla, a young teen with asthma, to share her story on what’s its like to have to restrict her time playing outdoors when the air is unsafe to breathe. We exceeded our attendance goal with nearly 300 guests. The event was covered by five media outlets. But most importantly, we learned that many of the guests changed their position on climate change from denying it to accepting that it is a real health concern.
Media Outreach – The Weather Channel:
In order to elevate the health impacts from climate change, we also work with the media to get that message out. Because stories are memorable and powerful, we always include someone who is personally impacted. We identified Mikayla, the teen who spoke at our event, and asked her to share her story with the Weather Channel. Laura Turner Seydel, M&O’s co-founder, was also interviewed for this story. Our goal was to amplify the connection between climate change and children’s health. Accomplishing our goal, the feature story ran several times on the Weather Channel.
We know that proximity to a particular issue can help change the way someone thinks about it. If we can help Americans come to understand that climate change and air quality is something that affects their children’s health, then we are closer to winning support for improved air quality policies.
